20 Pentecost 07 Proper 23

One day, as he was opening his shop, a very kind and generous barber was feeling all the more kind and generous- perhaps because it was nearing the Thanksgiving holiday, and he had much for which to be grateful.

The first customer to enter the shop for a hair cut was a local baker. The barber, wanting to express his gratefulness, decided to give the baker a free haircut. The next morning, when the barber came to work, he found a dozen freshly baked doughnuts on his doorstep, with a note of gratitude to the barber.

This really encouraged the barber, and made him even more grateful for life than he was the day before. In fact, he was so grateful that he decided to give the first customer of the day a free hair cut and a free donut also. Soon his first customer did arrive: a local florist. The florist was delighted with the free service and immensely enjoyed the doughnut.

The next morning, when the barber came to work, he found a dozen fresh roses on his doorstep, with a note of gratitude from the florist. This really encouraged the barber, and made him even more grateful about life than he was the previous day, or even the day prior to the previous day. In fact, he was so grateful and overjoyed about his good fortune, that he decided to give another free haircut to whoever might be the first customer of the day.

Soon a local pastor came in, and since this was the first customer, the barber gave him a free hair cut, as well as a rose to take home for his wife. The pastor was delighted with the service, and thanked the barber profusely. That night, as the barber closed his shop, he wondered what good fortune might befall upon him the next day.

The next morning, when the barber came to work, he found a dozen preachers on his doorstep.

How many of us have a good reason to be thankful? Think about it. Do a quick review of your life. What is it for which you are most thankful?

More than that, how many of us have a good reason to give thanks to God? What kinds of things are we grateful to God for?

As a church family, what do we appreciate the most from God? What are some of the ways we can express the gratitude we feel towards God? How do we show our thanks to Him?

In our Gospel lesson today Jesus entered a village and was immediately met by 10 lepers. Now leprosy was and is a communicable disease that back in Bible times forced people with the disease to be avoided with great fear and disgust. They often had to identify themselves in a way that would warn others to stay away.

These lepers must have heard of Jesus because the called him “Master.” They believed in him enough to ask him to heal them. Jesus saw their faith in him and asked the ten for even more faith. “Go,” he said, “And show yourselves to the priests.” Only a priest was able to certify that someone had been healed of leprosy and was now clean.

So as these ten started off to see the priest, they went with deep faith that by the time they arrived they would have been cured. They went believing that when they found the priest they would have something to show him. For these ten to obey Jesus meant they really truly trusted him to heal them. Imagine how foolish they would feel if they got to the priest and had not been cured. They might have become the laughing stock of the whole town.

The Bible says that “as they went they were cleansed.” Not before they went, but after they started to go. They had to take the step of faith to go into the unknown. Their faith was real. Their trust brought about their healing.

Imagine how they felt inside! Amazement, celebration. Probably they had begun to plan what they were going to do with the rest of their lives now. No more being shunned by people. No longer do they keep their distance from everyone except other lepers. Now they are free to associate with people. They have the opportunity to know what it is like to hug someone, and to be embraced in return. They can touch and be touched. Don’t you suppose those lepers were like a person who has just won the lottery trying to figure out how they were going to spend their winnings?

These ten did what Jesus asked in faith, and their healing came about. They couldn’t wait to get to the priest. He wouldn’t believe his eyes. They ran to show him they were clean…all but one that is. This one among the ten was a Samaritan. Being a Samaritan in those days was like another form of leprosy. The people of Samaria were looked down on and despised by the Jews because they were people of mixed races and mixed religions who were viewed as unclean.

So, here was this leper who was doublely unclean because he had leprosy and because he was a Samaritan who was running to the priest with the others when he stopped. He looked back in the direction of Jesus. He ran back to Jesus. When he arrived where Jesus and his followers were, he rushed up to Jesus, yelling thanks to God at the top of his lungs. He fell at Jesus’ feet, thanking him over and over again.

Nine people were making new plans for their lives, showing cured bodies to a priest. One lay crying with sheer joy at Jesus’ feet. It was an immediate, spontaneous act of gratitude.

The other lepers did what Jesus asked them to do, they obeyed. But one did even more. He obeyed, but he also came back to give thanks. He went beyond faith to gratitude.

Many years ago a young man rescued nineteen people from the stormy waters of Lake Michigan. He was recognized for that heroic action and asked, “What one thing impressed you most during that experience?”

“The thing that impressed me most about this whole incident,” the young man replied, “was that not one of the nineteen came back to say thank you.”

Maybe obeying isn’t enough. Maybe it needs to be coupled with gratitude. This reminds me of people who say they don’t need to go to church to worship God. You have heard comments like, “I can be a good Christian just by leading a good life,” “I believe in God and I lead a good Christian life, what do I need the church for?” And of course, “You don’t have to go to church to be a Christian.”

Setting aside the fact that the Bible encourages and dare I say commands church attendance, most people who don’t go to church have a misunderstanding about what the Church is. The church is the Body of Christ that has always worshiped together. There is no such thing as a “Lone Ranger” Christian. We need each other and we need to worship together.

One of the main reasons we need to worship together is because there is a power and a connectedness that comes from giving thanks together. And isn’t worship basically giving thanks to God. That’s why our service is called the Holy Eucharist. Eucharist means thanksgiving. Before we have communion we celebrate the Great Thanksgiving. We come to church to praise God, to give thanks to Him for our lives, and to worship Him.

Much of the hymns we sing, the Gloria we say, the Creed we recite, and the Communion service itself is an expression of our gratitude or thanksgiving.

Sure we can obey God alone without the Christian community, and yes, there are other ways of giving thanks to God, but being here with other people is important. Worshiping God is done best with other people who believe. What if all ten lepers had returned to worship? How powerful that would have been. Our worship is always diminished when some are missing.

Can you imagine going to a Cowboys game and nobody else is in the stands? You might say, “Hey great, no parking problems or obnoxious fans from the other team, or no lines at the concession stand or restrooms. Much of the fun is having other fans with whom to share the experience. Imagine having a baby with no one to tell about it, no one to celebrate with? We need other people to give thanks well.

Worship is important because together we give thanks – we celebrate – we learn – we praise God – we grow in faith. Corporate worship isn’t the only way to thank God, but it is one of the best ways. St. Paul in 1 Cor. 14 talks about the worship service of the Church. He describes giving thanks as a vital part of that service. Jesus gave thanks during his institution of the Lord’s Supper.

So often, people think of going to church as simply going to a building. Some think of the church as place to which we come to see our friends. Sometimes we come out of a sense of duty not really expecting to give or receive anything.

A priest was talking to a hard-working woman who was a devoted member, present at all services. He expressed his thanks for seeing her so attentive to the services every Sunday.

“Yes,” she said. “It is such a rest after a long, hard week’s work to come to church, sit down on the pew, and not think of anything.”

When we start focusing upon nothing, or the church as a building, or as a place to come for any other reason than to give thanks to God and to glorify him, then we are bound to become disillusioned or disappointed with the church.

This Samaritan came back to thank Jesus in a special expression of gratitude. It is a moving scene. One man makes a special effort to come back and show his appreciation.

That outstanding example is important, but I think the more routine thankfulness is also important. The daily gratitude and weekly worship are critical to our faith. We appreciate it when a child thanks us for a special action that we have done. But we also like to hear little “thank yous” for the routine things we do for our children week after week. Special thanks are important – but commonplace gratitude is needed, too.

We have a lot for which to be thankful – each day and every week. It is not just good luck or our own hard work, but all of us have things we can only thank God for. Most all of us have seen what God has done for us. Most of us have sensed the presence of God with us at different times in our lives. We can give thanks to God – individually and as a church family – again and again. Isn’t that why we are here today?

David H.C. Read, a preacher some years ago said, “If I were to wake up one morning and find I was an atheist with my faith in God completely gone, I think I would miss almost more than anything else having someone to thank… I can hardly conceive what it would be like never, never being able to say in a moment of exhilaration or of unexpected happiness, or of rescue from deep distress, ‘O God, you are good to me!’”